Charlotte Gibb

Some photographers bring such a calming presence to their images that you feel at ease looking at their photos. While other photographers have images that just jump off the screen and put you into a place of awe and wonder. Lucky for us, Charlotte Gibb is both. 

Charlotte Gibb is a renowned nature and landscape photographer known for her mastery of "Intimate Landscapes" — small scenes from a big landscape. She exhibits her work at places like the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite National Park and not only sees the landscape in different ways than most but has a BA in Graphic Design that helps her communicate the visual elements of imagery in ways we can understand.

Charlotte will discuss how “Composition Eats Subject for Breakfast”

When it comes to making impactful imagery, composition is king. Good composition with flow and visual balance will reveal the story behind your subject. It is one of the most critical aspects of photography, turning an ordinary subject into an extraordinary one. In this presentation, you will learn how to evaluate a composition and understand why some photographs are strong, and others fall short.

You’ll learn concrete composition skills to help you compose more successfully in the field and post-processing techniques to make your photographs sing. 

You can learn more about Charlotte and her work on her website.

Charlotte will be supporting The Patagonia Area Resource Alliance, which works to protect the Patagonia Mountains in Arizona, with 10% from the registration fees donated to their mission.

Length: 90 Minutes

Cost:  $17 (or as part of the entire series for only $77!)

David Cobb

David Cobb sharpened his photographic perspectives as a long-distance hiker and over the years on the Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide, the Canadian Divide and most recently walking across Iceland.

He finds himself continually awed by the broad spectrum of nature’s offerings—from a delicate heliconia flower on the exotic island of Rarotonga to the sweeping Patagonian landscape. As a member of the Photo Cascadia team, he brings forth a personal goal of capturing the wonders he sees in nature for the enjoyment of all those with an eye for the extraordinary.

This well-crafted presentation will dissect the four tenets of photography—light, color, form, and expression—and how they can help you on your photographic journey. Explore the language of photography and critical composition skills, and how to better incorporate these elements into your images.

You can learn more about David and his work on his website.

David will be supporting his local food bank with 10% from the registration fees donated to their mission.

Length: 90 minutes

Cost:  $17 (or as part of the entire series for only $77!)

TJ Thorne

Photographers often create images without connecting with the natural landscape they are in. This is rarely the case for TJ Thorne. Photography is his means of experiencing nature in a much more intimate way. Through it, he is able to appreciate life and immerse himself in his true surroundings. There's a difference between being in nature and being IN nature.

In this presentation TJ discusses why and how he approaches photographing midday light.

This isn't about overcast days, he talks about harsh, direct, 'crappy' light.

While he shows many examples of photographs that he has captured during midday light and talks about his approach to those photographs from a technical standpoint with in-field context, what the meat of this presentation is and what he hopes each listener walks away with is a fresh creative view and interpretation of the way that light behaves during the middle of the day and the ways it can be used to create compelling and meaningful images.

Approach, mindset, and exploration are the keys. In this presentation TJ talks about how he uses those attributes to create midday images that he loves deeply.

Learn more about TJ and his work on his website. 

TJ will be supporting the Columbia Land Trust with 10% from the registration fees donated to help their mission.

Length: 90 minutes

Cost:  $17 (or as part of the entire series for only $77!)

Eric Bennett

The amazing Eric Bennett will return to the Nature Photography Classes speaker series.  Not only an accomplished photographer but also a deeply insightful writer, Eric turns his focus on the vital element of light.

We all know how critical light is in photography. After all, the word "photography" literally means: recording light. Many photographers talk about "chasing the light," or getting up early or staying out late to photograph in the "best" light. But light comes in many different forms other than just the cliché sunrise and sunset lighting, and all of which, if used intentionally, can produce visually striking photographs.

In this presentation Eric Bennett challenges the widely held belief that there is such a thing as "bad" light. Instead, he will show you that every kind of light has its unique benefits. Through principles of visual art and image examples, Eric will give you many different ideas of how to use all of the qualities of light you can encounter throughout the day, before the sun comes up until long after the sun sets.

This way, rather than being limited by what nature presents you with, you will be able to see the creative potential in even the most ordinary kinds of lighting you can find, and be able to make remarkable photographs at any given time of day.

You can learn more about Eric and his work on his website.

Eric will be supporting Quiet Parks International with 10% from the registration fees donated to help their mission.

Length: 90 minutes

Cost:  $17 (or as part of the entire series for only $77!) 

Ian Plant

The final installment of the Light vs Composition series will be presented by master photographer and educator, Ian Plant.  As you view Ian’s images, you might think that producing incredible impactful images is commonplace for him in his work. In fact, his work has evolved massively over his 15+ year landscape photography career.

In this presentation, Ian will show you a step-by-step process for making compelling grand landscape compositions, with an emphasis on the wide angle near-far style of composition. The discussion will focus on the key elements of making striking landscape photos. This includes visual design principles, how light and weather affect composition, and techniques for achieving that "deep focus" effect that ensure sharpness throughout the entire image frame. 

• Introduction to the near-far style of landscape photography.
• Overview of the key steps to making successful grand landscape photos and the importance of scouting and planning.
• FInding a point of interest. Discussion of starting by identifying a compelling scenery feature to use as the background of the composition.
• Finding a compelling foreground. Discussion of what types of foregrounds work best, and how a foreground should be used to encourage the viewer to explore the composition more, and to invite them visually and emotionally into the scene. 
• Discussion of techniques for optimizing relative sizes of foreground and background, and how you can use focal length and relative position to do both.
• The importance of weather and light to landscape compositions, and a discussion of using cloud shapes to mirror or repeat foreground shapes.
• A discussion of achieving "deep focus" in landscape compositions, and using hyperfocal distance, depth of field, and focus stacking to ensure sharp focus from near to far.

You can find more about Ian and his work on his website.

Ian will be supporting the Sumatran Orangutan Society with 10% from the registration fees donated to support their mission. 

Length: 90 minutes

Cost:  $17 (or as part of the entire series for only $77!)